Brooke

Meet Brooke, my first GCSPCA foster. She's an 11 month old, 55 pound Australian Cattle Dog mix. The "mix" is likely to include some scent-hound, shepherd, and possibly Lab.

Her most striking quality is her unfailingly sweet temperament. She is one of the least aggressive dogs you will ever meet. There isn't a mean bone in this dog's body. Having two cats already, I was a bit nervous about introducing a dog into my house, but the most she ever does is annoy them by following them around in a desperate attempt to get them to play with her. She is also fantastic with other dogs. When we take her to the dog park, she is just overjoyed to play with the other dogs. She gets totally baffled when other dogs play too rough or get snippy.

Because of her size and amalgam of breeds, I would describe her as high energy, but not super-high. Also, she is still a puppy, so needs more attention and activity now than she will when she is a year or two older. However, compared to younger puppies, she is pretty low-key and usually content to just be in the same room with you. A lot of people want really little puppies because they're so cute, but they aren't considering the huge amount of responsibility and inconvenience that comes with getting a puppy that's less than 5 months old. Brooke, on the other hand, is the best of both worlds - she is young enough to still have that adorable puppy face with the big, soulful eyes and that exuberant playfulness, but she is old enough to be left alone during the day while you're at work (she is crate-trained and does not mind staying in her crate during the day or at night when she sleeps) and entertain herself when you can't play with her.

I could easily go on and on about how great Brooke is because I had never had a dog before we got her, knew next to nothing about them, thought I would always just have cats, and she has been such a dream compared to the gnawing, peeing, barking (forgot to mention she doesn't bark except when a stranger approaches the house), needy ball of smelliness I was expecting (and was totally prepared to love).

Brooke's capacity for unconditional love and loyalty has just floored me, especially since I'm used to the completely conditional and snarky love of cats, so I am really hoping to find her forever home soon so she can start building that lifelong bond.

For more information on how to adopt Brooke, visit charlottespca.org!